Broken Wheel Wolves: Boxed Set (The Complete Collection, Books 1-6) (Werewolf Romance - Paranormal Romance)

by Melissa F. Hart

  “What do you know about any bombs, Mr. O’Faolán?” Boomer asked in his calm, friendly way.

  “Only that I heard the explosion early this morning, but when I got to the Winters’ house, no one was there. Is everyone okay?”

  His face expressed genuine concern, Jade thought, as she answered. “Carson had to have some metal shards taken out of his leg, but he’s going to be fine.”

  “I’m glad to hear it, the Winters are good people.” Conall waved an arm around his tiny homestead. “Look all ye like—I can assure you that you’re not going to find any bombs.”

  Susan and Wolfgang appeared from behind the little cabin and just as she started to say something, Wolfgang suddenly made a beeline for Conall, yanking Susan’s arm so hard she almost stumbled.

  “What is it boy? What do you smell?” Susan looked at Conall suspiciously.

  When the huge shepherd reached Conall, though, the dog dipped down in front of him submissively, tail tucked, then rolled over to expose his belly.

  Susan looked utterly shocked. “I’ve never seen him act like that…this dog is an Alpha—and trained to ignore everyone except me. That’s how a dog would submit to a pack leader.”

  A hint of a smile played on Conall’s lips. “He’s probably picking up wolf pheromones on me; I’ve been with me pack all morning.”

  “The pack of wolves he’s studying,” Jade clarified.

  “And who do you work for, Mr. O’Faolán?” Boomer queried.

  “I’m an independent researcher; my work is supported by a non-profit foundation.” He reached down and patted Wolfgang, “It’s okay boy—you can get up.”

  Boomer continued, “You don’t have any connection to the Wild Organisms Liberation Front?”

  Conall’s distaste for the group was evident in his one word response, “No.”

  Wolfgang sat down by Susan, who eyed first her dog, then Boomer, with a puzzled look. Wolfgang was looking a lot less fierce than he had earlier. Boomer made a gesture to suggest he didn’t think there was anything more to do.

  During the interchange, Jade tried to avoid looking directly at Conall because every time she did, she could feel her libido heat up. Maybe, she thought, she should screw up her courage and ask him out for a cup of coffee or a beer, but it never seemed like quite the right time. Finally raising her eyes to his, she tried to wrap things up, “Thanks for your cooperation, please keep your eyes open.”

  “Oh, me eyes are always open…Jade.”

  Jade felt mesmerized by the amber embers of Conall’s eyes, as if he was igniting a slow burn deep within her. She tried to ignore the feeling, but a thrilling sense of warmth was spreading through her lower body. Her breath caught in a little hitch, and then suddenly Conall turned to Susan and Boomer.

  “I hope ye find who’s causing all the trouble.”

  Boomer shook Conall’s hand. “Yeah, me too. Thanks for your time.”

  Wolfgang hopped back into the K-9 SUV, and Susan waved goodbye as they headed back home. Jade and Boomer went back to town so Boomer could get his car. He politely turned down Jade’s offer of help, insisting he’d be fine on his own looking at the particulars of the explosion.

  Before he got in his vehicle to head back to the Winters’ ranch, Boomer clapped a friendly hand on Jade’s shoulder. “No offense, but you’re looking a little tired. Take it from a guy who’s been around the block for more than twenty years, when you get caught up in a case like this, you need to remember to eat and sleep.”

  Jade thought wistfully of the tuna sub she never ate. “Yeah, I know. I’ve been having some weird dreams the last couple of nights. I’m actually going to go have a beer with some friends this evening, and then go to bed early.”

  “Sounds like a good plan. I’ll check in with you tomorrow morning and let you know what I’ve found.”

  ***

  “I leave for a few hours and all hell breaks loose.” Wilson leaned forward in his chair, resting his elbows on the desktop, and clasping his hands in front of him. His thumbs made restless circles as he blew out a deep breath. “Give me the skinny on everything.”

  That annoying song, “Who Let the Dogs Out?” kept repeating in Jade’s mind with its chorus of “Who? Who? Who?” Somehow it seemed like an appropriate theme song for her investigation, and to underscore the point, Sargent let out a rumbly doggie snore from where he was curled up by Jade’s desk. Jade brought Wilson up to speed as quickly as she could.

  “I can’t figure out an angle that makes any sense,” Jade finished her summary with a frustrated sigh.

  “For one thing, I think you need to get a look at all of Biggy’s boots, and from what you’re saying, probably Nate Vanderville’s, too. I do realize that is not going to make my daughter very happy.” Wilson sighed, too. “I know you and Nicolette are grown women, and I try not to interfere. But I think Vanderville is clouding Nicky’s normally good judgment, don’t you?”

  “I’d like to be proven wrong on this one, but if I had to sum this guy up in two words, it would be ‘egotistical prick.’”

  “Still, that doesn’t make him a bomber. What about this mysterious Irish guy, the biologist? What’s your take on him?”

  Jade could feel her cheeks color at the mention of Conall.

  “Why, Jade Lundgren! You’ve got a crush. And all this time I thought you and Harlan were going to be the next wedding in town!” He cleared his throat a little, “Although personally, I always thought Nicolette and Harlan would be a good match.” Wilson hastily tried to redress his remark, realizing he might have inadvertently stepped on Jade’s toes, “But that’s just a father babbling. Harlan is a good man, that’s all I’m saying.”

  Pretending like Wilson hadn’t said anything about her love life, Jade continued, “My impression is that Mr. O’Faolán doesn’t have much use for either the W.O.L.F. contingency or lunkheads like Biggy and Frank. He seems to be on good terms with the Winters and otherwise keeps to himself.”

  “You don’t find it a little odd that he was the first one on the scene with both the initial vandalism and the trap?” Wilson raised an eyebrow. “Maybe he’s trying to get all these annoying people out of the picture and he’s just using the Winters so he can throw suspicion in all directions except at him.”

  “Yeah, but his explanations seemed plausible, and the bomb dog didn’t find anything at his place.”

  “Well, maybe he doesn’t shit where he eats…so to speak. Maybe you should look further up in the BLM land, like around that old abandoned mine.”

  Jade checked the darkening sky outside the window. “It’s too late to go up there today. I guess I could go have a look tomorrow after I hear from Boomer.” Her intuition told her that Conall couldn’t be involved, but there wasn’t much point in arguing with her boss. Then her stomach rumbled, and she was reminded of Boomer’s advice.

  “All I’ve eaten today was a bowl of corn flakes. You want to go to the Buffalo for some dinner? Then I’m going to catch up with Nicolette and Nate, and maybe Biggy, at the Crystal Spur.”

  “Sure, why not? I’m a bachelor this weekend…Peggy went to Billings for the weekend to visit her sister. You know how she is about my cholesterol—it’ll be another six months before I get a chance to have a nice, juicy, rib eye.” He playfully pinched Jade’s slender face, “And a steak won’t hurt you a bit. Come’on, my treat.”

  ***

  For once, Jade thought, she had a dog to finish off the steak in her doggy bag. Sargent chomped happily in the passenger side of the Bronco as she fed him pieces of the meat from her fingers. It seemed an appropriate reward for him waiting patiently for her to have a meal. He also polished off a chunk of baked potato with sour cream and a couple of spears of broccoli. Sargent, Jade decided, didn’t have a particularly discriminating palette for a hound dog who could smell a raccoon two hundred yards away. She looked at her watch; it was almost eight o’clock, and if she was going to make it to the Crystal Spur and then home to bed at a decent hour, there
wasn’t time to change clothes or to drop Sargent off at the house. Besides, she decided, if she was going to be checking boots, she should look like a deputy.

  “Sorry boy,” she rubbed Sargent’s head. “We have to make one more stop before we go home.” She swallowed at she recalled that Harlan would be there waiting for them.

  The Crystal Spur Dancehall was in full swing when Jade pulled up. Pink neon cowboy boots hopped back and forth over the roadhouse’s roof, and the parking lot was jammed with cars and pick-up trucks of all descriptions. Taking the liberty to park in the fire lane, Jade instructed Sargent to guard the Bronco. His droopy ears waggled as he sat up at attention, seeming to understand her admonishment. Jade took a deep breath. She needed to find a balance between being Nicolette’s best friend and doing her duty as an officer of the law. She opened the door and the strains of “Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy” washed over her.

  The bouncer took one look at Jade’s uniform and waved her through without making her pay the cover charge. She scanned the crowd. Two dozen people were out on the floor line dancing and a group was played pool in the back, but most of the bar’s patrons were clumped at tables and the bar having drinks with dates and friends. The W.O.L.F. group was easy to spot; their haircuts were too trendy and their clothes were better suited for a Manhattan club than a small town honkytonk.

  When Nicolette saw Jade, she waved at her enthusiastically, clearly happy that her friend had arrived. Her wavy brunette hair was pulled back on one side with a comb, and she wore a simple red knit dress with a short flared skirt that showed off her curves without being tasteless. She had accented the dress with a thin black leather belt and she was wearing her favorite black cowboy boots. Jade realized she felt envious, dressed as she was in shapeless khaki accented with handcuffs, a flashlight, and oh yes, a Smith and Wesson. She reminded herself that she wasn’t there to find a date, and tightened the band on her ponytail as she made her way toward Nicolette.

  Nicolette was sitting alone. A few of the W.O.L.F. people were doing their best to pick up locals by trying to line dance, and the rest were clustered around Nate like he was some kind of rock star. He was holding forth about the W.O.L.F. manifesto, and plans for high-level strategy, but from what Jade could overhear, it sounded to her like a bunch of bologna. Clearly, he enjoyed the adoration.

  “Why aren’t you over there with the fan club?” Jade pulled out a chair and sat down across from Nicolette.

  “They’re having some kind of strategy meeting, and since I’m not an official member of W.O.L.F., Nate told me it would be disrespectful to the members for me to participate.”

  Jade rolled her eyes. “Com’on Nicky, that’s bullshit and you know it. He’s trying to make you feel inferior to a bunch of gussied-up city folk playing at saving the world because, of course, the dumbasses of Wyoming are too stupid to care.”

  “When did you get so mean?” Nicolette’s face buckled with the sting of Jade’s words. “He’s not like that, he really cares about wildlife.”

  “Right now I’m more concerned whether he cares about you.”

  “Maybe, if you would give him a half a chance, he could prove to you that he does.”

  “He doesn’t have to prove it to me; just to you.” Jade reached across the table and gave Nicolette’s hand a squeeze. “I don’t want to fight, but you’re too good a person to be treated like anything less than a queen. And you look fantastic. Any guy with two eyes in his head should be over here trying to impress you.”

  Nicolette wiped at a tear welling up in her eye, “You know I’m never been Miss Popularity with the guys, Jade. Look at him–Ivy League education, handsome, rich—all these girls are dying to make it with him, but he picked me.”

  From the looks of the W.O.L.F. groupies, Jade wasn’t at all convinced that Nate was monogamous. “Look, I’ve got some sheriff business I have to attend to—I’ll be back in a few minutes.” She patted Nicolette’s hand reassuringly.

  Nicolette nodded in agreement as she stirred the melting ice in her gin and tonic, but she didn’t say anything.

  Pushing her way through the crowd to the bar, Jade looked around for Biggy Lemmons. Soon she saw a familiar head of greasy hair pop out of the back with a case of long neck Buds in his arms. The biceps on his arms bulged with the effort, making his bad tattoos of Yosemite Sam and the Tasmanian Devil flex a little.

  “Biggy!” Jade called, “I need to talk to you.” Biggy pretended not to hear her as he unloaded the beer into the cooler, and Jade wanted to fire her gun in the air like an Old West marshal. She resisted the urge and instead reached across the bar, grabbing his wrist. “Did you hear me? I need to talk to you.”

  This time Biggy couldn’t avoid her. “Whad’ya want? I’m busy here.”

  “I need you to come outside with me.”

  The bartender tilted his head to signal Biggy to do what Jade said before it turned into any more of a scene. Biggy wiped his hands on a bar towel and threw it down behind the bar. “All right, let’s go.”

  The cool night air felt good to Jade as they stepped out of the bar and she relaxed into her official deputy mode. “You’re not an easy guy to track down.”

  “I didn’t come out here for small talk.”

  Jade decided to bluff a little, “We’ve got a witness that says they’ve seen you up on the Winters’ ranch this week. Guess you’ve heard there’s been some trouble up there.”

  “Well, your witness is a damn liar. I’ve been putting a new roof on my girlfriend’s trailer the last couple of days.”

  “Why didn’t Frank tell me that?”

  “’Cause Frank knows better than to talk about other people’s business.”

  “Can anyone confirm you were there?” Jade pressed.

  “My girlfriend, and her mother, and the next door neighbors. Now, I’m going back in there to work.”

  “We’re not done here. I need to see your boots, and I need to remind you of some state laws.”

  “Whad’ya want to look at my boots for?”

  “Never you mind. Let me see the soles.” Exasperated, Biggy lifted one foot up to where Jade could see it. He was wearing old cowboy boots slick soles. “What other kinds of shoes do you own?” Jade asked.

  “Same as most folks around here, steel-toed work shoes—same kind as Frank’s—a pair of sneakers.” He thought a moment, “And I got me a pair of insulated duck boots.” His laughter had a cruel edge to it, “Don’t want the tootsies to get cold when I’m trapping those filthy wolves.”

  “You do understand it’s a felony to torture or mutilate a wild animal in the state of Wyoming?”

  “What, did those rich kids in there tell you that?” Biggy scuffed at the loose gravel with one foot.

  “No, Sheriff Page did. And if you want, I can arrange for him to explain it to you personally.” Jade pulled out her notebook, “Now shut up and write down your girlfriend’s phone number. After I check up on your alibi, I’m going to explain to her why a new roof shouldn’t cost her a black eye.”

  Biggy spluttered, “Now wait a minute.”

  Jade took the notebook back, “For god’s sake, Biggy, she waits tables at the Buffalo. Everybody in town saw her face last Monday. If you were roofing her place—as you claim—I’m sure it was an attempt to make up with her. She’s gotta be getting mighty tired of being your punching bag.”

  Biggy growled under his breath, but didn’t say anything more as he stomped back toward the door. Jade called after him, “I want you and your duck boots at the Sheriff’s Department, nine o’clock sharp tomorrow morning. You’ll be sorry if you make me come and find you.”

  Jade called Biggy’s girlfriend before heading back in, confirming that he’d been roofing at her place, and had stayed over the last couple of nights. She also wanted to make sure the woman had the Crisis Center hotline number, and gently lectured her about the fact that she had other options than being hit. As she clicked her cell phone shut, Jade felt a wave of sadness pass through her
: sadness for Biggy’s girlfriend who allowed herself to be abused because she didn’t know any different, sadness for Nicolette who was letting a guy run roughshod over her because society said he was a “good catch”, and sadness for herself because it sucked just as badly to go through life alone.

  Before going back in in to deal with Nate, Jade checked on Sargent, who was asleep on the seat of the Bronco. Suddenly, he woke up, scrambling to his feet, and eagerly jammed his head back out the window. He was facing away from Jade, and she peered into the dark field beside the roadhouse, wondering if there were deer out there, or maybe just rabbits. Then she saw the silhouette of a huge canine, the proportions of which told her it was a wolf and not a dog.

  It seemed liked hardly a second after she noticed it that the wolf vanished. The thought occurred to her that the wolf was stalking Biggy, and it made her laugh. Wouldn’t Biggy be surprised if the tables were turned? With that thought, Jade sauntered back into the bar, feeling a bit more in control.

  Nate was still holding court and Nicolette was still alone; right then, she didn’t care if Nicolette got mad at her. She couldn’t stand seeing this asshole humiliate her friend, and she hated that Nicolette was putting up with it. She headed to Nate first.

  “Excuse me for interrupting…”

  Nate was in a jocular mood, clearly a few drinks up in his evening. “Hey everyone, this is Deputy Lundgren from the Broken Wheel Sheriff’s Department. I’m hoping she’s come to tell me that she’s on board with our strategy.”

  “To be on board, you’d have to have a strategy,” Jade said flatly.

  The smile on Nate’s face faded, and he waved off his groupies. “I think I need a minute alone with the deputy.” He pursed his lips tightly. “Such a party pooper, Jade, I was hoping we could have some fun tonight.”

  “What about having some fun with your girlfriend who’s been sitting alone all evening?”

  He took a drink of his bourbon and coke, and then leaned in to whisper in Jade’s ear, “Oh Nicolette doesn’t mind. She knows she’s the one that gets to spend the night with me.”